Busch earns the nod as Nationwide Series' DOY

NASCAR.COM staff members have chosen their driver of the year for the three national series as well as NASCAR Driver of the Year. The four-part series continues with the Nationwide Series:

Driver of the Year

NASCAR.COM staff votes

	Bliss	Busch	Keselowski
Mark Aumann			x
Jarrod Breeze		x
David Caraviello	x
Duane Cross		x
Bill Kimm		x
Joe Menzer		x
Dave Rodman		x
Chris Stanfield		x
TOTAL	1	6	1

Voices of Dissent

Mark Aumann on Brad Keselowski

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano might have won more races in 2009, but it's hard to argue that Brad Keselowski wasn't the driver most in the spotlight -- for sometimes the right (and wrong) reasons -- on a week-in and week-out basis. After starting the season with three finishes of 22nd or worse, Keselowski put together an amazingly consistent string of top-10s for the remainder of the year. Starting with his third at Texas, Keselowski finished on the lead lap in every race except Chicagoland and seemed to always be in contention. His aggressive style of driving not only netted him four victories, but certainly captured the attention of his fellow competitors -- most significantly of those, Denny Hamlin. The season-long running feud between the two resulted in a trip to the NASCAR hauler after Keselowski knocked Hamlin out of the way at Phoenix, followed by Hamlin's payback in the season-finale at Homestead.

David Caraviello on Mike Bliss

Yes, Kyle Busch dominated the Nationwide Series this year. But no driver made more out of the season -- and was as impressive in doing so -- as Mike Bliss. Here you have a 44-year-old veteran who lost his ride late in the year, despite winning a race (at Charlotte in May, for his first victory in four years) and placing in the top-10 in almost half his starts. Here you have a guy who kept his season going by running some start-and-park cars. Here you have a driver who competed for six different owners over the course of 2009, and never let it affect his performance. In fact, he had some of his best runs -- runner-up finishes at Dover and Charlotte in the fall -- in the middle of all the upheaval. Oh, and he placed fifth in points, tying his best finish ever. Saddled by all that drama, could Busch do the same?

Jarrod Breeze
From the second race of the season, when he set a NASCAR first, to the 2009 finale when he made the Homestead winner relevant, the Nationwide Series was all Kyle Busch. He matched, set and obliterated series records en route to the championship: 25 top-fives (tied); 10 consecutive top-two finishes (record); 11 runner-up finishes (a mark he didn't want); 21 consecutive races of leading a lap (17 times he led the most laps); most laps led at 2,698 (he surpassed the previous mark after 29 races). In addition, he became the first driver to win two national series races (Truck/Nationwide at Fontana) on the same day. The capper: Busch clinched the title by starting at Homestead and celebrated by winning the race, as well.

Duane Cross
Thirty top-10 finishes in 35 starts should say enough about the season Kyle Busch posted in 2009. If not, how about 25 top-five finishes? Or, nine wins -- three of which came during a 10-race stretch that Busch finished either first or second. The streak ended with a -- gasp! -- third-place run. No matter the series, that's stout. Busch ended the season with three wins and a second-place finish in the last five races, including a Victory Lane throwdown at Homestead. There aren't enough adjectives to describe how impressive Busch has been in the Nationwide Series the past two years, but the series' championship trophy -- his first in NASCAR -- looks good on the mantle. I'm sure he has space for a companion piece of hardware -- or more.

Bill Kimm
This is as close to a no-brainer as you get. No one in the Nationwide Series came close to what Kyle Busch accomplished in 2009. He won his first national series title, and he did so in a fashion we haven't seen in quite some time. Busch's 5,682 points were the most scored in series history. He also set records with laps led (2,698) and second-place finishes (11). Couple that with nine wins and he finished either first or second in 57 percent of the races. No one was in the same league as Busch this season, and he proved it at Homestead when all he had to do was start to win the title, but in typical Rowdy fashion, he won the race. Nationwide may be the series sponsor, but in '09 it was overwhelmingly the "Busch" series.

Joe Menzer
As much as anyone tries to look at this from a different angle and pick someone else (Joey Logano anyone?), there simply is no way Kyle Busch cannot be the selection for 2009 Driver of the Year in the Nationwide Series. Sure, he would have won even more if he hadn't been out-raced down the stretch by the upstart Logano, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, on several occasions. But the fact that Busch still won nine times in 35 starts, or nearly 26 percent of the time, cannot be overlooked. Even Logano, who did not run the series full time and made only 22 starts, won less than 23 percent of the time with his five victories. Throw in three poles, 25 top-five finishes and 30 top-10 finishes, and Busch's championship season is deserving of Driver of the Year accolades as well even though he did seem a little more human after giving up all those late-race passes to the hard-charging Logano.

Dave Rodman
It's no coincidence that Kyle Busch was both the 2009 Nationwide Series champion as well as its driver of the year. Busch, despite his frustration at anything less than a victory, absolutely dominated the first two-thirds of the season on his way to establishing a comfortable points cushion. He then drove it home, despite some bumps down the stretch. Busch's most spectacular achievement no doubt was a 10-race stretch at midseason, when he was either first or second in every event. That was the exclamation point to a campaign in which he was first or second in a stunning 20 of 35 races. Leading the championship for the final 29 weeks was the icing on the cake of his driver of the year season.

Chris Stanfield
Although they make it look easy at times, racing in all three series throughout the season can wear and tear on more than just the cars. Raw talent and consistency are key ingredients to success at this level and no one displayed more of it during this season's Nationwide Series than Kyle Busch. Carl Edwards is worthy of praise, with his own hefty share of wins (five), but Kyle Busch deserves the honor with nine wins, 25 top-five finishes and 30 top-10s.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Staff writer Raygan Swan is on maternity leave and did not participate in the voting.

Driver of the Year Schedule
• Dec. 12: Truck | Dec. 19: Nationwide | Dec. 26: Cup | Dec. 28: NASCAR